


If You Wait

by opiniatre_bea



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 05:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8699134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opiniatre_bea/pseuds/opiniatre_bea
Summary: It's almost Christmas, and Erin has waited too long to do what she wants, but something has pushed her into finally doing it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Kind of new to posting fic here. But I saw some Christmas prompts and this one sounded cute. It's about mistletoe. Enjoy! x  
> (Also, any mistakes are mine and I'm sorry)

Erin had trying for _weeks_ to build up the courage to ask Holtzmann if she wanted to go on a date. She’d finally come to terms with her feelings for the younger woman; she _liked_ her. And after many restless nights trying to understand all her feelings it’s taken even more restless, sometimes completely sleepless, nights to convince herself she should just go for it and finally ask Holtzmann out. 

It was difficult for Erin to figure out whether she should, and it had to do with Holtz flirting with her so often. Was that just the engineers thing? She did flirt with a lot of people (okay, women) that she would come across, and Erin had no idea if it was a genuine thing or just something she simply did in her every day life. Maybe that was just how she acted with people. It took a few words from Abby for Erin to start thinking maybe there was more.

“She’s never consistently flirted with anyone except you, Erin,” her friend had told her over a cup of coffee one morning. “Sometimes I’m even amazed at the material she uses for you. You get the good stuff, I swear.” Abby had chuckled to herself and walked away after that, leaving Erin to her own conclusions.

Which were something along the lines of: Yes, Holtz could have a thing for her and yeah, maybe Erin should go for it. If she could ever pluck up the courage she needed.

She’d finally gotten to this point. A week before Christmas though. It had taken a good couple of months of Erin trying to get her shit together that she finally made it this far. Although, the fact that Holtz had started to flirt with people less these days helped the physicist out quite a lot. Holtzmann hadn’t been on any dates, or even out to her favorite bars recently. Holtz seemed to be taking her… _frustrations_ out on her inventions. There was always loud noises of hammers on metal, a drill going almost all the time, as was the welding torch. Holtz wouldn’t stop working, and she was only getting more aggressive. So Erin was finally going to do this, if only to make Holtz stop making so much noise all the time. 

Patty had pointed it out to Erin, “She seems hung up on you. I don’t know if she _does_ have a thing for you, but it feels like she’s waiting for a situation to develop, baby girl. I’ve never seen her like this, and Abby said she gets cranky when she hasn’t been with anyone in a while. I mean, don’t we all though?” Patty had laughed loud and sighed. “Just do something about your feelings, Erin.”

So this was how Erin got here. Standing at the foot of the staircase, ready to go up and ask Holtz out. Or kiss her. Probably both. The butterflies in her stomach had been fluttering like crazy for about 12 hours by now. Erin hadn’t had her breakfast, and it was almost lunch time. She still wasn’t hungry; she just felt nauseous. 

“Erin, sweetie?” Abby’s voice came from behind her but Erin didn’t turn around. She kept her eyes focussed on the top of the stairs, psyching herself up. “Erin, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to ask Holtz out,” she said determinedly.

“Oh, oh, wow! Way to go, Erin.” Abby paused. Erin still wasn’t going to look at her friend. She couldn’t; she’d break up her momentum somehow. “Are you going to do it now?” Abby asked, sounding too excited.

“Yup. She’s up there, I can hear her music and the drill.”

“Do you need me to push you up the stairs?”

“What? No. I’m fine. I’ll go up there in a minute.”

Abby waited by her side. The minute ticked by and Erin hadn’t moved, or even blinked as far as Abby could tell.

“It’s been a minute,” Abby mumbled. “Do you want a push now?”

“Abby, I’m going to do it,” Erin spat. “I just- I just gotta get the courage.”

“Yeah, okay, sweetie. I get it.” Abby stayed by her side a little longer. Frankly she just wanted to creep up the stairs after Erin and hear the conversation that would unfold in Holtz’s lab.

“ _Fuck!_ ” Erin yelled out of nowhere, making Abby jump back.

“What? What is it?” Abby asked quickly. Erin backed away from the stairs and went over to her desk, sitting in her chair and putting her head face down onto the desk. 

Abby looked back and forth from the stairs and Erin. “You’re _not_ going to ask her out?” Abby was confused.

“I can’t do it. Today isn’t the day,” Erin’s voice was muffled from being against the desk. Abby walked to her friend and patted her back.

“You’ll do it one day. You’ll know when the time is right.”

 

That time didn’t come for another 5 days. The Ghostbusters had planned a Christmas party and invited some loyal clients and a few family and friends to the firehouse. They decorated like crazy, Patty being an unexpectedly huge fan of tinsel and handmade paper chains. Abby had a thing for fairy lights so their firehouse was very sparkly and bright, and it was beautiful. Completely ready and perfect for a Christmas party.

The party was on the smaller side but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a lot of drinking and dancing, a lot of people trying to guess all the names of Santa’s reindeer. Erin would take that a sign of who was more drunk, and by the second half of the night it was a sign of who was getting worse and would need a cab home. Abby started out with knowing all the reindeer and by 11pm she could name three.

“Dancer is one! Because I’m dancing, and that’s just something a reindeer would do anyway,” she slurred while All I Want For Christmas Is You played from the stereo. She managed to get Prancer as well because it happened to rhyme. As Erin asked for a third name Abby gave her a knowing look, then glanced at Holtz and simply said, “Cupid.” She then danced away and Erin was left looking at Holtzmann.

She was engaging in some conversation with a two of their most grateful clients; a gay couple who had been terrorized by this T4 ghost who had died in their apartment in the 1950’s. A very homophobic ghost to be specific. Erin watched as Holtzmann smiled and laughed along to the stories the men told, just wishing she could go be a part of whatever was making her so happy.

Erin didn’t end up going over there. Instead as it got close to midnight she helped a very drunk Abby upstairs and onto the old couch in Holtz’s lab. Almost as soon as Erin had got her friend onto the couch she’d fallen asleep. Erin just draped a blanket over her, left a glass of water close by and let her sleep in peace, grateful she probably wouldn’t be feeling nearly as terrible as she would in the morning.

As Erin made her way downstairs she noticed the firehouse door was open. She could hear Holtz yelling goodbye to someone and then the blonde made her way back inside, shutting the door behind her. Holtz smiled when she saw Erin, and suddenly Erin’s butterflies were back.

“Hey you,” Holtz said as she got closer. “Feel like I haven’t seen you all night. Whatcha’ been up to?” The engineer strolled to their downstairs couch and dropped onto it; still looking at Erin, still smiling, still being beautiful.

She’d dressed up for their party. She wore her “good” black pants (no stains or holes, basically), her dark green vest shirt, a tie with little snowmen all over it hanging loose around her neck, and instead of her usual bandana sitting in her hair Holtz had a sparkly looking headband that was made of some wire covered in small silver tinsel that had stars poking out everywhere. Very festive in Erin’s mind. She was only wearing jeans and a white Christmas themed sweater. Holtz looked like her very own eclectic Christmas angel, and that was partly why she could barely speak to the woman all night.

“I’ve uh, been helping Abby trying not to stumble into things and break them,” Erin told her, going over to her desk and leaning against it, making sure she could still see Holtz. “It’s been pretty fun actually. She’s a good drunk, she just laughs a lot.”

“She is at that. She can say the craziest things when drunk. I’ve written some of them down,” Holtzmann laughed softly.

Erin went silent. It was like she had forgotten how to hold a proper conversation with Holtz. She was always thinking about how it would be if she were to ask Holtz out every time the conversation lulled. Whether it felt like the right time or not. It never was but Erin still had to find that moment, and lately she felt like she was always looking for it.

“Where’s Patty?” Erin asked, _trying_ to keep a conversation. 

“She left a while ago,” Holtz replied as she stretched out on the couch, putting her hands under her head. “I shoved her in a cab before she could cause some real damage. It’s just us now.”

“Damage?”

“Only my Pattycakes would try to slip a gay guy her number during a drunken Christmas party,” Holtz laughed.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe she did that,” Erin muttered.

“It’s fine. It may have been a joke but I got her out of here before she could try and do it seriously to someone else. Or do worse.”

Erin just nodded, almost laughing at her friend’s actions, but she felt too distracted. She glanced around the room, noticing all the empty bottles of various alcoholic drinks. All the mostly empty plates and bowls of chips, biscuits, nuts, anything that was once filled with food. Tinsel and paper chains had fallen down, bits of party popper streamers were all over the ground. Erin felt overwhelmed by the morning clean up already. And then she spotted it, and suddenly it felt like the right moment. This was what she had been waiting for.

Erin stood up abruptly, walking over to it, wondering who had put it there because she sure as hell didn’t do it herself, and she hadn’t seen any of the other Ghostbusters do it either but there it hung.

Mistletoe.

“Holtz…” Erin whispered, far too quiet for the woman to hear it. 

“Erin, where did you go?” Holtz said, sounding like she was panicking. “Erin, I ate way too much food. But did you try that seven layer dip? I think I ate half of it _at least._ I’m going to need you to help me stand. I can’t do it on my own, and I’m not going to sleep here,” she paused. “Erin… _Erin!”_

“Holtz, come here,” Erin yelled out.

“Did you not just hear me? I need _you_ to come _here._ ”

“No, I need to show you something over here. It’s important.”

“I feel like a beached whale, I cannot move on my own.”

“Get over here, Holtz,” Erin shouted again as she looked up at the mistletoe that was hanging from a very long piece of string from stuck onto the ceiling. From behind her should could hear slow movement and a few grunts and groans.

“You had better make this worth it, Erin,” the blonde mumbled as Erin turned around to watch her walk closer. Holtz stopped next to Erin, glancing around as if to find the thing Erin had to show her that obviously did not exist. “What are you showing me?”

“Holtz, can you be quiet, just for a sec?” Erin said softly, almost pleading with Holtz. She nodded, a spark of concern in her eyes. Then Erin pointed upwards. She watched as Holtz looked up, and she watched as she saw a smirk form on her face, and watched as Holtz looked back to Erin, the smirk growing into a grin.

And before Holtz could make a witty remark about _anything_ Erin leaned in, her lips meeting Holtz’s for the first time ever. Erin already hated herself for waiting so long because this felt… Holtz just made her _feel._ Feel things she hadn’t before. Kissing Holtz was different. She was softer and gentle. There was almost something careful in the way Holtz kissed her; she kissed like she meant it. It felt easy with the engineer. It was their first kiss and to Erin it was like they’ve been doing it for as long as they’ve known each other. Erin felt a smile tug at her lips as she felt Holtz press against her, clearly not wanting to part, and Erin’s heart soared.

In reality their kiss lasted about 10 seconds but it felt like a few minutes to Erin, and she almost frowned when Holtz pulled away from her. Holtz took hold of Erin’s hand, twining their fingers together as she smiled.

She locked eyes with Erin, crystal blue eyes staring into what seemed like a mirror. “Yeah, you sure made that worth it,” Holtzmann whispered, only for Erin’s ears. 

Erin giggled briefly, gripping her hand tighter to Holtz’s, making it feel like her anchor to the ground because otherwise she might fly away from how dreamy and light she felt. Like a weight off her shoulders, she had finally done it. _Finally_ kissed Holtzmann, and it felt perfect. Holtz felt perfect. Her soft lips, warm hands; it felt amazing.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” she confessed. 

“Yeah, I figured, kind of,” Holtzmann revealed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“You did?”

“Well, Abby dropped a hint a while ago. A _long_ while ago.”

Erin blushed, suddenly feeling bad for taking so long to find her moment, “I’m sorry. I just-

“Wanted it to feel right.”

“Yeah,” Erin smiled.

“Erin?”

“Yeah, Holtz?”

“Can I kiss you again? I feel like we’ve both waited a long time and now I just want to do it,” she stated.

Erin simply nodded, another bright smile forming on her face. She couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do more.

The two women kissed again, and again, and some more later on, and it wasn’t until near two in the morning when Erin was finally in her own bed that she called Holtz on her phone and-

“Do you want to go out with me? Like a date?”

“Hello to you too,” Holtz answered, her voice heavy from exhaustion.

“Hello, Holtzmann. So do you want to?” Erin asked again, her hands shaking a little from excited nerves.

“Of course I do. Glad you finally asked.”

“Okay, good,” Erin smiled. “I’m glad I asked too. Alright go to sleep, you sound sleepy. Goodnight Jillian.”

“Goodnight Erin. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.”

For the first night in a _very_ long time Erin slept soundly that night, no butterflies in her stomach annoying her. Just excitement for the beginning of a future with Holtz.


End file.
